Card index



July 1947' c. H. FAHLSTEDT 2,4

I CARD INDEX v Filed May 5, 1944 T lEl.

' ATTORNFV Patented July 8, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARD INDEX Curt Helgesson Fahlstedt, Stockholm, Sweden Application May 5, 1944, Serial No. 534,256 In Sweden April 22, 1943 3 Claims.

My invention relates toa card-index which is serviceable for any desired purpose.

The nature of the invention and the advantages thereof will become apparent from a consideration of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, and of which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are vertical sections of a cardincleX constructed in accordance with the invention in two different positions;

Fig. 3 shows the card-index viewed from the front;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but partially in section along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a partial plan View of the pack of cards ertaining to the card-index;

Fig. 6 shows a section on the line 65 of Fig. 5.

In the drawing, l designates a box-like case having an upper wall 2 which may be removable, if desired. The device may be used as a telephone-index, if desired, and in this case the telephone apparatus may be preferably placed on top of the upper wall, which may be provided with recesses for the foot projections of the telephone apparatus or with suitable abutments or the like to secure the apparatus in position. Arranged within the case i, 2 is a drawer t with a handle s to receive a, pack of cards stacked horizontally, which cards for the sake of clearness are illustrated as of exaggerated thickness in Figs. 1 and 2. The upper wall is provided at the front edge with a somewhat inclined bar 5 extending along said edge, said bar being provided with an alphabetic list, for example. A pointer 6 is displaceable along the bar 5, said pointer being carried by a rod l extending along the front edge of the case. The pointer 6, displaceable on the rod 1, is connected to aselector arm 8 adapted at the displacement along the rod 1 to move underneath the.

card pack in the drawer 4. The pointer 6 is surthe width of the notches, viewed in the direction of the rod 1, increasing successively from the uppermost card toward the lowermost card, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The depth of the notches is the same for all cards, as shown by the dash lines in Fig. 5, and is such that when the drawer is closed the rear end of selector arm 8 is spaced ahead of the transverse edges which border the notches. The front edges of the card pack thus form step-like offsets, beneath which the arm 8 is movable at the displacement of the pointer 5 along the bar 5, when the drawer takes its position within the case. The thickness of arm 8 is substantially the same as that of each'card, thus permitting it to slide beneath all but the lowermost card.

The cards may in due order take up alphabetically arranged names, specifications of goods or the like, depending on the purpose for which the card-index is to be used. When thepointer s has been adjusted to a certain letter, with the drawer in its position within the case, the arm 8 rounded by a slide 9 which is movable on the bar 5 and adapted to facilitate the adjustment of the pointer.

The drawer 4 is provided with lateral walls Ii! located inside the ends of the rod 1, said walls being downwardly inclined at the front in a forward direction, the rod 1 being adapted to slide up on said walls for a purpose to be explained, when the drawer is pulled out. At the rear, the sidewalls of the drawer are provided with notches ll adapted through their engagement with the rod 1 to prevent the complete withdrawal of the drawer from the casing. I.

As will be seen from Figs. 5 and 6, the front left corners of the cards are notched or cut away,

is brought just to the left (according to Fig. 6) of the edge of the notch in the card corresponding to the letter pointed at by the pointer. When the drawer is then drawn out, the selector arm 8 will lock all of the cards situated above said particular card, so that the card corresponding to said letter will be lying topmost in the drawn-out drawer. To ensure that this card will not remain in the case, entirely or in part, by friction against the card thereabove, the arrangement is so devised that the pack of cards lying on top of said particular card will be raised by the locking arm 8 at the commencement of the drawing-out or" the drawer. This is rendered possible by the fact that the rod 7 slides up on the walls IQ of the drawer when the latter is drawn out, as will appear from Fig. 2. 7

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that this has been done for purpose of illustration only and that the scope of my invention is to be limited only by the appended claims viewed in the light of the prior art.

What I claim is:

1. In a card-index, a casing having an opening in the front wall thereof, a drawer slidable into and out of said casing through said opening, a plurality of cards stacked horizontally. in said drawer, each card having a notch extending inwardly from the front edge and one side edge thereof, the width of the notches increasing from the top towards the bottom of said stack, a transversely extending scale provided on said casing,

a transversely slidable member located in the front portion of said casing, a pointer carried by said member and cooperating with said scale, and a selector arm carried by said member extending into the space provided by said notches for retaining within the casing when the drawer is slid out all the cards the notches of which are located entirely to one side of said arm.

2. Ina card-indexa casing having an opening in the front wall thereof, a drawer having bottom, front and side walls, said drawer being slidable into and out of said casing through said opening, a plurality of cards stacked horizontally in said drawer, each card having a notch extending inwardly from the front edge and one side edge thereof, the width of the notches increas ing from the top towards the bottom of said- 4 scale, and a selector arm carried by said member extendin into the space provided by said notches whereby, when said drawer is slid out, said rod is raised by said inclined edges and said arm is raised to engage and retain within said casing all of the cards the notches of which are located entirely to one side of said arm.

3. A card-index as defined in claim 2 in which said side walls are provided with notches adjacent to their rear ends for engagement with said bar to prevent complete withdrawal of said drawer from said casing.

CURT HELGESSON FAHLSTEDT.

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the -file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Date 

